Claire Danes almost quit acting

Clare Danes almost missed out on her leading role in the award winning TV series, Homeland, having considered quitting acting just months before she got the job.

The 34-year-old star has admitted that work offers began drying up not long after her Emmy win for TV movie Temple Grandin in 2010 and she seriously began looking at other career options.

Speaking to Vogue magazine Danes said: "It was grim. I was very hurt. Two years of not working was brutal. And a point came where I thought, 'I really like interior design.' Someone suggested, 'Maybe your real success is in your personal life.'"

However, before she made any drastic decisions Danes was cast as Carries Mathison in Homeland in 2011, a role that quickly revived her flailing career and brought with it a number of awards, including two Golden Globes.

Danes said: "You just hold out for those rare moments when you feel a real fusion with this imagined person. It's really like surfing. You get that wave and think, 'All right, I can be in freezing-cold water at 5am in the hopes that I will get one.' And maybe you get three of those a year."

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